


never known this kind of love

by SJAandDWfan



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, my take on cheryl and toni during and after the escape
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-29
Updated: 2018-03-29
Packaged: 2019-04-14 16:23:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14139861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SJAandDWfan/pseuds/SJAandDWfan
Summary: Cheryl stands up. "Toni?"She doesn't know if this is real; doesn't think she could take it if it wasn't. Toni locks her eyes onto Cheryl, worry and relief overlapping with desperation and hope."We came to rescue you," she says, and Cheryl's heart skips a beat."You did?"





	never known this kind of love

**Author's Note:**

> well, i had no idea i would be writing for riverdale of all things, but i've gotten hooked on these two and after last night's episode i had to write something.
> 
> title from "bullet" by ann marr, aka the choni kiss song
> 
> enjoy!

Cheryl sits one row from the back, pressed against the edge of the pew as the projector throws light onto the screen in front of them. She can feel the tears coming, doesn’t think they’ve stopped since she’d arrived in this hellhole however many days ago. How long has she actually been here? Has anyone even noticed she’s missing?

 

She misses her friends. Cheryl isn’t sure how many friends she actually has, but she misses them all the same. Even Jughead.

 

She’s taken to seeing her friends in these movies they keep being shown; usually it’s Kevin and Moose. She doesn’t know why it keeps happening, but then again, Cheryl’s not entirely sure what’s going on at all. What’s real, and what’s in her imagination.

 

Cheryl’s been trying so hard to not let it all affect her; she knows there’s nothing wrong with liking girls, but it’s something she’s repressed for years and this so-called ‘therapy’ isn’t doing her any good. In a way, Cheryl’s always known she likes girls – maybe that’s one of the reasons she went off on Betty and Veronica at the start of the year after their faux-lesbian kiss for attention – but she’s pushed it down and out of her mind.

 

Until Toni.

 

Out of everyone Cheryl’s met in her life, there’s no-one who _gets_ her quite like Toni does. And it’s not just about the sexuality thing. Toni understands how Cheryl’s mind works, maybe even better than Cheryl does herself, and she still wants to know her. Toni still wants to spend time with her. Toni almost kissed her, back before it all went to shit and Cheryl’s mother had dumped her here.

 

Cheryl’s been clinging to her memories of Toni the past several days; the way her eyes soften when they meet Cheryl’s gaze, the quirk of a half-smile at one of Cheryl’s insults for whoever’s crossed her that particular day, the tiny mark above her lip…

 

(Not that Cheryl’s been staring at Toni’s lips.)

 

(Okay, that’s a lie, she totally has.)

 

Toni’s been a lifeline to Cheryl in here, and she doesn’t even know it. She has dreams about Toni bursting though the door to her room and taking her away from this awful place. Cheryl always feels hollow when she wakes up, still lying on a hard mattress in a dark, damp cell.

 

In the last couple of days, Cheryl’s even been hearing Toni’s voice, and it makes her want to curl up into a ball and sob because Toni probably has no idea where she is.

 

_Cheryl?_

There it is again. She’s imagining Toni’s voice again, and Cheryl sighs, blinking as she feels fresh tears roll down her cheeks. She tries to focus on the movie; there are cheerleaders onscreen and it’s so familiar it makes Cheryl ache for her real life back in Riverdale.

 

_Cheryl?_

And again. The imaginary voice sounds desperate. Surely it’s just cruel by this point. Cheryl can’t help but glance at the door. It remains closed and her face crumples. There’s no-one coming.

 

Except that her attention is jerked away by the sound of that very same heavy wooden door crashing open and a girl running in.

 

“Cheryl? Are you in here?”

 

The girl skids to a halt in front of the screen, squinting against the light from the projector, and Cheryl would recognise her anywhere.

 

Cheryl stands up. “Toni?”

 

She doesn’t know if this is real; doesn’t think she could take it if it wasn’t. Toni locks her eyes onto Cheryl, worry and relief overlapping with desperation and hope.

 

“We came to rescue you,” she says, and Cheryl’s heart skips a beat.

 

“You did?”

 

Someone cares enough to track her down and get her out of here, and of course that someone is Toni. Somewhere in the back of her brain, Cheryl recognises the word ‘we’ as plural, as in, Toni’s not alone, and that overwhelms her a bit.

 

Toni just looks at her, breathing hard and eyebrows drawn together in worry, and Cheryl’s feet carry her towards Toni, as they always seem to do. Toni smiles as she gets closer, and when they meet in front of the screen Toni wraps her arms tightly around Cheryl in a hug.

 

Cheryl rests her chin on Toni’s shoulder, and she can smell her hair. It’s that familiar scent that finally confirms to Cheryl that this is indeed happening. It’s real – Toni really has broken in to rescue her.

 

Cheryl clings to her for a few seconds, almost forgetting where she is because it’s like it doesn’t matter anymore now that Toni’s here. She draws back from the hug to look at her, as real and as beautiful as ever, and she’s filled with such emotion that she can’t even begin to unpack it yet.

 

Whatever it is, Toni seems to be experiencing it too, if the look in her eyes is any indication. Her eyes dart from Cheryl’s own to her lips, then back up to her eyes again even as Cheryl feels impossibly soft hands cupping her cheeks, and she knows what’s about to happen. With the light from the projector almost blinding her, Cheryl leans in, eyes closing as Toni kisses her.

 

Cheryl puts everything she wants to say into the kiss. Everything she feels about Toni, and she gets lost in the feeling of their lips pressed together, falling into the embrace. Cheryl knows she’s been crying, and that she doesn’t look the same as people are used to seeing her, but Toni doesn’t seem to care, kissing her gently and yet with such heat, that Cheryl doesn’t understand how anyone could think that what she’s feeling could be ‘fixed’.

 

Because, she thinks, even as they separate; you can’t fix something that isn’t broken to begin with.

 

She kisses Toni again, not wanting to stop. Not now, not ever. Now that she knows what it’s like to kiss Toni, to feel her this close, she wants more than anything to catch up on lost time. The world around her falls away, so it’s a jolt when she hears Veronica’s voice from the doorway.

 

“Cheryl. Toni,” she says, and Cheryl reluctantly pulls back from the kiss as they both turn to look at Veronica. “There are a bunch of nuns coming, we have to go. Come on.”

 

Right. The nuns.

 

Cheryl exchanges a look with Toni. It’s a look that promises a conversation later, after their jailbreak. For now, though, the objective is just to get out of there.

 

It doesn’t stop Cheryl from keeping a tight hold of Toni’s hand, though. As they run from the Sisters, through a maze of dark corridors and secret tunnels, Cheryl clings onto Toni for dear life. They only part to climb the ladder, and while Toni and Kevin (there are _three_ people on her rescue mission?) barricade the entrance so the nuns can’t follow them.

 

As soon as they’re free, Cheryl reaches for Toni’s hand again, waiting until Toni grabs hold of her before running for the woods. Her breath sounds harsh in her ears and her feet hit the ground as she breathes in clean air for the first time in far too long. Veronica and Kevin are keeping pace with them, Kevin navigating the forest with familiarity and confidence as they run away back to the Riverdale that Cheryl recognises as home.

 

Although, she doesn’t know where in Riverdale will actually feel like home now. Certainly not Thistlehouse. Not after her own mother had sent her away. The uncertainty almost makes her stop running, but then Toni tugs on her hand and Cheryl’s back in the present. They’ll figure it out.

 

They emerge from Fox Forest near the Whyte Wyrm, the bar that Toni works at just North of the trailer park. Cheryl doesn’t really know where to go from here. The Southside is largely unfamiliar territory for her, after all. She stands with her friends, all of them breathing hard after their escape, feeling the adrenaline slowly come down.

 

When it does, Toni takes off her Serpents jacket and drapes it over Cheryl’s shoulders. Cheryl hadn’t even realised she’d been shivering in the night air. She looks at Toni in surprise, and her eyes widen as she remembers what Toni’s wearing.

 

“You’ll freeze,” she protests, trying not to let her eyes linger on Toni’s very visible black bra.

 

“I’m fine,” Toni insists with a smile. “Let’s go.”

 

“Where? Thistlehouse?” Dread claws at the pit of Cheryl’s stomach.

 

Toni’s eyes go wide. “God, no,” she promises. “You’re staying with me and my grandfather tonight.”

 

Cheryl doesn’t know what to say.

 

“If that’s okay with you, of course,” Toni says hurriedly, taking Cheryl’s silence the wrong way. “Otherwise it’s totally cool if you stay with someone else, I just thought—”

 

“Toni,” Cheryl interrupts what she suspects will turn into an uncharacteristically nervous ramble, and as cute as that would be, she doesn’t want to make Toni anxious. “I’d really like to stay with you and your grandfather.”

 

Toni breathes a sigh of relief. “Good. That’s… okay, fine.”

 

Cheryl chances a glance at Kevin and Veronica, who are both watching them with badly-concealed knowing smiles. She looks down at the ground, but them knowing what they know about her and Toni doesn’t fill her with apprehension. Instead, she just feels slightly embarrassed under their gaze.

 

“Call us if you need anything,” Veronica tells them, and Kevin nods earnestly.

 

“Anything at all,” he adds, and Cheryl’s so grateful for them both.

 

They hug both her and Toni before leaving, huddled together for warmth, and Cheryl suppresses a jump when she feels a hand slip into hers. Relaxing as soon as she realises it’s Toni, Cheryl sighs, the ordeal finally catching up to her.

 

“Let’s go home,” she says, fighting a yawn.

 

(It doesn’t dawn on her until much later that she’d referred to Toni’s grandfather’s trailer as ‘home’ as a reflex, purely because that’s where Toni would be.)

 

Toni gives her one of those soft smiles that Cheryl is starting to believe is reserved exclusively for her, and leads the way to the trailer park.

 

*****

 

An hour later, and Cheryl’s lying on the sofa in the Topaz trailer in a borrowed t-shirt and a pair of sweats. Not her usual sleeping clothes by any stretch of the imagination, but they’re warm and soft and smell like Toni, so Cheryl’s more than happy to wear them.

 

Even if the sweats just barely graze her ankles.

 

Her head is in Toni’s lap, and her body is covered by a blanket. Toni, too, is in pyjamas – her grandfather asleep in the bedroom. He’d tried to give up his bed for Cheryl, but she had refused to allow him to be displaced on her account. Toni combs through her hair idly with her fingers, and Cheryl’s the most relaxed she can remember being.

 

“If you ever want to talk about what happened there,” Toni whispers. “I’m all ears.”

 

“Thank you,” Cheryl breathes. “I probably will. Just not tonight.”

 

“Of course, you must be exhausted,” Toni says.

 

Cheryl hums in response. It’s quiet for a minute, and Cheryl feels like there’s something else Toni wants to say, but can’t quite bring herself to, so Cheryl catches hold of Toni’s hand and brings it to her lips, pressing a soft kiss to her palm. She hears Toni exhale shakily.

 

“I really like you, Cheryl,” she says softly. “And I understand if you’re not in the right place for anything. I just want you to know that I’ll wait as long as you need. My feelings aren’t going to change, and if you want me here, then I’m not going anywhere. I won’t let anyone hurt you ever again.”

 

Cheryl shifts so that she’s sitting up next to Toni. She keeps hold of her hand, squeezing it reassuringly when Toni won’t look at her. She brings her other hand up to trace over Toni’s cheek, turning her head so she can kiss her, chaste and innocent.

 

“I want you here, with me,” Cheryl tells her honestly. “God, Toni, the way I feel about you…” She manages a tired smile, and Toni tucks some loose hair behind Cheryl’s ear. “I don’t need you to wait, because I feel like I’ve been ready to be with you for a while now.”

 

“Really?” Toni asks, like she can’t quite believe it.

 

Cheryl nods assuredly, and Toni leans in again, kissing her so sweetly Cheryl thinks she’s in danger of actually melting. Cheryl’s lips part with a sigh, and she deepens the kiss, suddenly feeling a bit less tired. Her fingers tangle in Toni’s hair as she loses herself in the kiss, surrendering to what she’s already known for a long time.

 

Toni gasps and pulls back, eyes still closed.

 

“Time to sleep,” she announces. “Eight hours of rest is important and, um, we have school tomorrow.”

 

“I don’t have anything to wear,” Cheryl frowns, realising just what she’s run away from.

 

“You can borrow some of my clothes,” Toni says. “I even think I might have some red lipstick that’s close to your usual shade.”

 

“And the sheer top you were wearing tonight?” Cheryl teases. “Where did that come from?”

 

Toni shrugs. “Just wanted to look the part.”

 

“Well, even if the conversion had worked, you in that top would’ve taken me right back to square one,” Cheryl says, and she feels lighter having been able to make even one joke about her ordeal. There’s lots to mentally unpack, of course, but for now she’s just enjoying being safe.

 

Toni laughs. “Is that so?”

 

“Come on,” Cheryl says. “I believe it was you who was just saying how important sleep is.”

 

She settles back down on her side, leaving space for Toni to slot in between her and the back of the sofa. It’s not wide enough to be strictly comfortable, and it’s certainly not what Cheryl’s used to, but she relaxes into Toni’s body, and the arm draped over her waist, feeling herself succumb to sleep quicker than she has in a very long time.

 

**Author's Note:**

> please do let me know what you thought! i'm ilovemyships on tumblr in case anyone wants to come yell at me about choni over there :)


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